7 killed in Regime linked Boko Haram raid in northeastern Nigeria

Locals in Borno state said Boko Haram gunmen stormed the town of Rann in Kalabalge district overnight Friday through Saturday and opened fire on homes.

“They opened fire on homes as we slept and killed seven people before carting away our food supplies and drugs from the only clinic in the town,” said a Rann resident, referring to the Boko Haram gunmen on motorcycles.

Rann’s residents had fled the town into Cameroon and to the town of Gamboru, about 28 kilometers (17 miles) away.

Another witness said the gunmen “planted two high-caliber explosives on the way outside the town but soldiers from Gamboru succeeded in defusing them at daybreak.”

Boko Haram, a Takfiri group known for its more than seven years of deadly militancy in Nigeria and the neighboring countries, has carried out several raids on Rann on other villages, forcing people from their homes. Eight people were killed in such attacks last month on the villages of Wumbi and Jikana.

On June 26, the Nigerian army said it had set over 5,000 people free from the grips of the Boko Haram in Borno.

Boko Haram started its campaign of militancy in 2009 with the aim of toppling the central government in Nigeria. The terrorist group has expanded its attacks into neighboring countries, notably Cameroon and Chad, in a conflict estimated to have claimed a total of 17,000 lives and forced over 2.6 million others from homes.